The best Huawei phones have seen a meteoric rise in popularity this year, thanks to a huge range of brilliant options available, regardless of budget. Scouring the internet, we've found the very best smartphones from Huawei for you and your wallet, with performance, overall build quality and value firmly in mind.
From humble budget phones with nifty processors and remarkable cameras to lush, high-end models that easily go toe-to-toe with the most expensive flagship phones of the year, Huawei has an enormous range on offer. Though many of the best Huawei phones to be found are slightly older models, their performance can rival many of the latest phones from other brands. What's more, they're incredibly affordable. So, if you're a photography aficionado, or love delving into TV shows while out and about, there's a Huawei phone for you.
The best Huawei phones at a glance:
• Best overall: Huaewi Mate 20 Pro – View on Amazon
• Best budget: Huawei P Smart 2021 – View on Amazon
• Best under £150: Huawei P30 Lite – View on Amazon
• Best under £200: Huawei P20 – View on Amazon
The downside to a huge array of choices is making a decision. As with all smartphones, you have some basics to consider – like screen size, camera quality and battery life, but also storage, RAM and the operating system itself. Office workers may want a mid-spec phone with a large screen, but those who need a gaming phone or media player may need something beefier.
We've looked for our favourite Huawei phones of the year, selecting to suit all needs and budgets – from the best cheap phones to to high-end performers. Get ready for some serious smartphone power at a fraction of the cost of the average iPhone.
The best Huawei phones of 2024:
All prices are correct at the time of writing. Prices, stock and deals are subject to change without notice.
Best overall
HuaweiEasily the sharpest screen on any available Huawei smartphone on the market right now, the Mate 20 Pro's glorious 2K 6.5-inch screen and ultra-thin bezels are more than a little appealing, making it a great phone for bunkering down in the evening for some Netflix.
The Mate 20 Pro has all the performance of a modern, high-priced smartphone without the enormous price: excellent battery life and charging, a solid rear camera and an exceptional selfie camera, and high damage resistance.
Yes, the Mate 20 Pro's plastic backing and square triple camera look older and cheaper than competing smartphones, but it isn't all about aesthetics. Triple AI cameras make for exceptional photography at its price, so there's no wonder it's one of the best phones under £500 this year.
Pros
- Excellent 2K screen quality
- Great design and build quality
- Solid photography
Cons
- Not the best performance
Best budget
Amazon/HuaweiOne of the best value smartphones, the Huawei P smartphone is an ideal device for anyone looking for solid photography at a competitive price. A durable phone, made to endure the knocks of daily life, this older model has plenty to offer despite its value. And that's because of the huge 48MP main camera resolution and 128GB of storage.
When it comes to performance, however, the Huawei P Smart does suffer a little from its age, and yet it's still brilliant enough to be considered a contender. It has 4GB of RAM – that's 1GB more than the previous model, too.
With a battery life that'll outcompete most modern smartphones, the Huawei P Smart lasts for hours of intensive use, all for less than £150.
Pros
- Excellent value phone
- Well-made and durable
- Solid camera for its price
Cons
- A slightly older phone therefore slower performance
Best under £150
HuaweiA popular amongst budget phone shoppers, the Huawei P30 Lite is an excellent option for users looking for good performance at a solid price. With a dependable battery life and a respectable 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, the Huawei P30 Lite can handle a great deal of gaming, browsing, photography and more.
While it won't win any awards for its camera quality, it retains a clarity that'll have you capturing moments surprisingly well.
As a phone under £300 which is capable of plenty, the Huawei P30 Lite has a lot of satisfied customers.
Pros
- Excellent value phone
- Great performance for the price
- Good battery life
Cons
- Ugly design
4.
Huawei P20
Best under £200
HuaweiAn impressive phone for less than £200, the Huawei P20 smartphone is yet another older smartphone from Huawei that still goes toe-to-toe with modern smartphones in most respects.
Ruggedly designed to last, the P20 is perfect for getting the most performance out of your smartphone experience. The P20's older Kirin 970 processor and 4GB of RAM don't offer the best performance, but it's enough for most basic tasks. The P20's camera isn't the most exceptional either, with performance being particularly underwhelming in low light.
All-in-all, at less than £200, the Huawei P20 is a terrific phone at a competitive value. It's one of the best phones under £200 right now.
Pros
- Decent performance
- Good build quality with rugged durability
- Great screen resolution
Cons
- Mediocre camera performance
Best for battery life
HuaweiHuawei's P20 Pro is certainly a pricier pick amongst the best Huawei phones, but with that comes decent specs.
Plenty of storage and a good amount of RAM for gaming or other performance-heavy tasks, the Huawei P20 Pro is only slightly held back by its Kirin 970 processor, which doesn't support the latest version of Android.
This 6.1-inch phone has a tough full-HD display and a useful home button, which might make it a great phone for an older user. The P20 Pro's dated design isn't the most appealing, and its plastic backing isn't the best, but what it lacks in appearance it makes up for with its phenomenal battery life.
You can get up to 89 hours out of the P20 Pro, which rivals modern flagships on the market.
Pros
- Good camera performance
- Large, vibrant screen
- Solid battery life
Cons
- Fairly old design
Best for gaming
HuaweiEasily a frontrunner of the Huawei line-up this year, the Huawei P40 Pro smartphone delivers excellent performance in a visually appealing, comfortable phone design.
In terms of performance, the Huawei P40 Pro is fantastic for gaming, thanks to its 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, leaving plenty of room for high-performance competitive titles such as Call of Duty: Warzone.
As for aesthetics, the lack of bezels on the P40 Pro is impressive, this phone under £500 has a look that far exceeds its budget but a build quality that is somewhat lacking thanks to its plastic back covering. Photography on the P40 Pro also isn't mind-blowing, but is serviceable thanks to its 50MP triple camera.
Reaching around 15 hours of battery life, the P40 Pro should last you a good chunk of the day, but expect this time to be shortened by heavy gaming. For budget buyers and Huawei enthusiasts alike, the Huawei P40 Pro is a spot-on choice for quality gaming and seamless browsing.
Pros
- A good screen with a nice design
- Impressive performance
- Solid camera
Cons
- Plastic backing lacks refinement
7.
HUAWEI Y6
Best durable
HuaweiNot the most elegant nor powerful smartphone on the market, but a reliable budget phone nonetheless, the Huawei Y6 has plenty to offer users in need of a phone made to last.
Equipped with a tough screen and thick plastic backing, the Huawei Y6 is made to endure drops, trips and falls in its stride.
An incredibly low price, however, does come with some shortcomings. The camera of the Y6 lacks any true quality and appears grainy.
This might make it a great phone for kids, budget buyers or less-experienced tech users.
Pros
- Sturdy design
- Good build quality
- Solid value
Cons
- The camera is poor
Best for AI
Amazon/HuaweiA cheaper AI phone, the Huawei Mate 10 Pro brings solid performance, camera functionality and storage, which is particularly impressive considering its price of less than £150.
With a sizeable battery life and rapid charging speeds, the Huawei Mate 10 Pro is perfect for long days where there's no charger in sight, or for when you need some power in a pinch.
Unfortunately, the Mate 10 Pro's older design, with small, centred cameras and plastic backing detracts from the overall user experience, which is otherwise brilliant.
Pros
- Good performance
- Solid camera
- Impressive storage at its price
Cons
- Dated design
Best designed
Amazon/HuaweiThe Huawei P30 Pro's curved screen offers a beautiful aesthetic that's rarely seen at this price.
Boasting a bright and eye-catching 6.5-inch full-HD screen, the Huawei P30 Pro brings together gorgeous form and arguably better function for what is a true contender as one of the best phones of the year.
Of course, as an older phone, there are some setbacks. The processor doesn't lend much to performance: but it's undoubtedly assisted by the whopping 8GB of RAM, which is perfect for any performance-heavy tasks.
For a beautiful design, tough build and much more, the Huawei P30 Pro is an obvious choice.
Pros
- Impressively detailed screen
- Solid camera performance
- Good battery life
Cons
- Dated processor leads to some performance issues
With its stunning design, the Huawei Mate 20 Pro's beautiful OLED screen offers a lot for the money.
We love the Leica AI-drive camera that can enhance all of your photography. Despite its premium features, the Mate 20 Pro remains reasonably priced, and that's even more evident when you consider it has wireless charging and a whopping 48 hours of battery life.
Although the Mate 20 Pro may be slightly older than others, it still delivers excellent performance thanks to its powerful Kirin 980 processor and substantial 6GB of RAM, which can handle any demanding tasks with ease.
All in all, we think that its combination of sleek design, amazing display and seriously capable camera, the Huawei Mate 20 Pro stands out from the crowd as a solid mid-budget smartphone
Pros
- Beautiful 6.39-inch display
- Leica triple AI camera for superior photos
- Rapid wireless charging and decent battery life
Cons
- Some users find the speakers a little thin
How to choose the best Huawei phone for you
The key things to consider when choosing from the best Huawei phones in our list are pretty simple. However, there are a few extra things to be aware of beyond the obvious phone specs. Let's look at the basics first.
Screen size and quality
With so many models to choose from, we recommend narrowing things down based on screen size. After all, the more casual phone user might only need simple smartphone apps like email, browser, social apps and a reasonable camera. And being able to slot that into a back pocket and forget it's there is also down the the size of the screen.
However, anyone looking to use their smartphone as a mobile office while about and about might need a larger display for spreadsheets, emailing and more. The same goes for gamers and fans of all media, from catching up on Netflix to enjoying a high-resolution camera. The larger and more impressive the screen, the better.
RAM and CPU
Many of the best smartphones on the market are actually closer to tablet computers than the smartphones of just a few years ago thanks to ever-improving and smaller tech. The mobile CPUs are now highly capable, supporting ultra-high resolution content and fast processing speeds. And what can RAM actually do for a smartphone? Well, as with desktop PCs, more RAM is always better if you're looking at entertainment and more professional apps, but cheaper or mid-budget phones often have less powerful specifications here, which is fine for everyday web and social apps and light gaming.
Cameras
If you're on the lookout for one of the best smartphones for photography, you're obviously going to be prioritising the lens and sensor capabilities of your Huawei phone. the higher the number of megapixels the better, and many flagship camera phones approach the same 20+ megapixel resolution as full DSLR cameras. And then there's the lens choice. Most smartphones come packing an array of lenses on the back, plus a selfie camera on the front for both stills and video. So, if you're looking to capture some amazing shots, make sure you have a good range of both wide-angle and macro lens options.
Operating system
Huawei used to run Android, but in 2021 they switched to HarmonyOS which claims to be far more efficient and powerful. However, there are plenty of good reasons why Android is a favourite OS for users everywhere, so we're happy to see that HarmonyOS is based on Android so there's a lot of compatibility there. That said, Google prevented Huawei from having any Google-based apps due to the USA's Huawei ban in 2020. Instead, Huawei users have access to Huawei AppGallery with over 200,000 apps available – including favourites like WhatsApp, Spotify and Facebook. So, for Gmail and YouTube you'll need to access those services via the smartphone browser.
FAQs
Are Huawei phones worth it?
Huawei phones, in spite of their older release dates, are still absolutely worth grabbing for solid performance and impressive tech specifications.
Well-priced and powerful, these smartphones are particularly good for those who aren't technologically inclined, offering a solid, but not extensive range of features for a modest price. You may find that even the best iPhones on the market are being given a run for their money in terms of features.
Can I update my Huawei phone to Android 13?
Unfortunately, the vast majority of Huawei phones cannot be updated to Android 13. They lack support for the software, so you won't be able to access the latest Android features.
However, there are still plenty of features to explore on current updates, and they still perform efficiently even on older software versions.
How can I boost my performance on my Huawei phone?
For the best performance, you should disable Power Saving Mode, this way, you'll get the most performance in exchange for less battery life.
You should also consider clearing your Huawei's cache, which can be done by: going to Settings, then Apps, and App Management. Then tap on Storage and Clear cache. This will delete excess files that are likely to cause some performance sluggishness.
Are Huawei and Honor the same?
Honor was once a subsidiary of Huawei, but in 2020 Huawei sold Honor to another company, so they're technically no longer affiliated. We've reviewed the Honor 50 smartphone and can confirm it offers a very similar experience to Huawei's flagship phones in both build and performance.
How we chose
We selected our pick of the best Huawei phones based on average user reviews, price, and suitability for each use case. We look carefully at the technical specifications of all products before we recommend them to ensure that they will meet buyers' needs without requiring modifications or costly additions to function as intended. With Huawei phones, our main focus is on performance, screen size and resolution, camera quality and overall design. Our writers also choose products based on hands-on experience where we own or have reviewed them ourselves. Retailers are selected based on price, availability and reputation as reliable and trusted sellers.
Ryan Houghton is a commercial content writer for What’s The Best, known best for his expertise in gaming, with a particular soft spot for PC gaming, audio tech, televisions and smartphones.
Diligently writing for What’s The Best for almost two years, there are very few tech products Ryan hasn’t had his hands on to review; televisions, headphones, folding phones and even LEGO, if it’s nerdy, he’ll be there.
His well-versed history as one of the resident techies at What’s The Best has kept him keen to uncover the very best deals, savings and offers for those in need of a cracking deal to upgrade their setup.
In his downtime, Ryan most likely has his nose buried in a fantasy book, or his eyes glued to a screen whilst playing a tough-as-nails Soulslike or leisurely RPG, indulging in most forms of escapism where possible.
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